


peonies and hydrangeas

by EmmaLuLuChu



Series: Discord Oneshots [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 19:44:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10906188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaLuLuChu/pseuds/EmmaLuLuChu
Summary: based off and inspiration taken from a prompt:Sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you’ve caught me and have demanded to come with me to make sure the “girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft” and I’m trying to figure out how to break it to you that we’re on our way to a graveyard





	peonies and hydrangeas

There were very few things that would bother or irritate Hunk. He was generally an easy going guy, never picked fights or tried to go out of his way to be aggressive for no reason.

But just like anyone else, there were lines to be drawn, and Hunk had those that could easily be compiled into a _What not to mess with_ list;

  * Don’t mess with his friends
  * Don’t mess with his cooking
  * Don’t mess with his inventions



_Most of all-_

  * Don’t mess with his garden



Hunk’s garden was his pride and joy, a dream of his that had finally been achieved, and _god forbid the person that so much as **plucked** a leaf or petal._

His vegetables were always crisp and flavorful thanks to the special soil mix he had created, his herbs had been with him since they were in pots and barely sprouting, and the flowers were vibrant patches that always bid him good morning from his window.

Then one morning there was a flower missing.

It had almost slipped under his radar with how small it was, but sure enough he looked and there was an empty spot, right next to the fence, among his peony patch. They were all a very pretty and deep maroon color, a suggestion from Shiro, and it definitely bothered Hunk to see the patch of soil.

Despite his need to jump to conclusions, he chalked it up as a squirrel or dog eating it, and tried to deter any future animals by putting some small pieces of plywood up that covered the spaces between the fencing.

A week later it happened again, except now _more than one_ had been taken.

It was considerably easier to see it, the same patch of peonies now left with a decently sized hole compared to the tiny spot from before, and Hunk felt his blood _boil._

It’s when he started to apply larger pieces of plywood along the fencing that Lance dropped by, raising an eyebrow and asking why some of the hydrangeas that he’d _finally_ turned red were missing, and Hunk nearly snapped the sheet of wood he held in half.

Someone had decided to mess with Hunk, and they were _going to pay._

For days he woke up at ass crack o’ dawn, watching the front of his house like a hawk, just waiting for the moment the perpetrator would walk by and strike again. He’d started watching from the nice little table and chair set up that he normally saved for relaxing and reading a book, then eventually realized the odd looks he was getting from sitting and scanning his eyes side to side by the people that walked by, and switched to watching from the window in his kitchen that overlooked the front yard.

Pidge had stopped by at some point and had stared in bewilderment at his actions, and had muttered something about _“and I thought I was bad”_ but Hunk could’ve cared less because he was planning the talking to he was going to give this-this- _garden wrecker_.

It was just when he was finally starting to feel the effects of shifting his routine so drastically, the days melding into one another because who needs sleep when you’re trying to bring justice, that he finally noticed a figure hovering over the hydrangeas with a hand outstretched towards them.

Hunk was nearly tripping over his own two feet as he rushed outside, slipping down the steps that led to his front door and yelling out,

“ _Don’t you dare touch that flower!_ ”

The person jumped on the spot, yelping and staring up at him, caught red handed leaning over the fence and hand hovering above the bulbous bushel of the hydrangea.

Hunk heavily panted from where he stood (because wow was his head feeling woozy from lack of sleep and the burst of adrenaline that was running in his veins), and hoped he looked intimidating in his sleep tank top, camouflage sleep pants, and the pink ladybug patterned bistro apron that Allura had gifted him as he took in the person who had been pilfering his flowers.

The flower criminal was a woman, possibly his age, that rivaled him in size and height. She was easily bending over the fence and not having to stretch onto her toes, her cropped dark hair and oversized earrings framing her face in the best way. She awkwardly started to straighten up, only proving his assumption about her height, just barely an inch or two taller than himself. She blinked large eyes at Hunk, face blank save for her eyebrows that were raised at him.

He finally regained his breathing, and launched into the carefully prepared speech he had been coming up with over the past few days,

“What are you doing? Who-Who taught you that it’s okay to just, take flowers that clearly belonged to somebody?!”

She blinked and continued to stare at him, glancing between his angered stance and the garden that sprawled across the front yard, before settling back on him as he continued,

“It’s _rude,_ it’s _inconsiderate,_ and it’s just _plain stealing!_ ”

He continued on, not even paying attention to her consistent look of blankness as he ranted on, while she took in his wildly gesticulating arms and his face contorted in righteous fury, and missed the smallest upturn at the corners of her lips. She stayed quiet though, waiting as he finished up his rant.

“-and believe me flower shop owners aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, and neither am I! So just, _leave my peonies and hydrangeas alone!_ ”

Hunk panted to catch his breath, straightening up and running his hands over his apron to smooth it out, not expecting what came from her mouth.

“You’re not curious as to why I was taking them?”

He blinked and squinted at her, trying to determine whether to respond or not, because who would ask a question like that after getting yelled at?

“Not-Not really? Just, will you agree to not stealing anymore of them?”

A small frown crossed her face then, and oh, okay that looked kind of sad, her eyebrows furrowed too to match and that just made it all look even _worse._

“Well, I promise it’s for a good reason, a good person, I’m not just taking them because I can-“

“Wait, if you’re taking them to a person why not just buy them flowers?”

One of her hands reached up to grasp the strap of her purse, holding it tight as she responded,

“No they-they wouldn’t like store-bought flowers, even local ones.”

Now this was just getting confusing of all things, and Hunk was feeling his patience grown thinner by the minute.

“Then why not field flowers? Wild ones that nobody works on keeping healthy and maintained, like I don’t know, anything other than _my garden?_ ”

She frowned even more, and _god_ of course the one time he stood up for his own things he felt like garbage about it.

“They. . . they used to pass by your garden every day.”

Oh. _Oh._

“Great Gran would always ask to come this way on their walks with Mother or Father, because they enjoyed seeing the vibrant colors and how well everything looked. It reminded them of the garden they used to have, before they couldn’t care for it anymore.”

This was heading somewhere that Hunk had _not_ been prepared for and she looked like she was about to cry oh god he was the worst, the _literal_ worst.

“When they. . . on the day they died. . . all they had wanted was one of the flowers from this garden, they probably would’ve been ecstatic to have met you. So at first I just picked the one flower, but then the next day it was gone, so I grabbed a few more so there was enough in case they went missing, then they started to wilt and perish, and I should’ve asked you I realize that now and I’m sorry.”

She ducked her head down, a hand going up to cover her mouth. Hunk finally got the power to move his feet, quickly hurrying over and holding his hands out to try and placate her,

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t ever think about that as a possibility! I’m sorry about your loss and for yelling, I just, _really_ care about my garden.”

She didn’t so much as move when he came over, and his tired and frantic mind began to run on overdrive trying to find a way to fix this.

“Uh, how about this? Just give me like, ten minutes, I can change and I could come with you to see your Great Gran? That’s something you said they’d probably like, right?”

That had grabbed her attention, finally lifting her head up and regarding him with brown, wet eyes.

“R-Really? You. . . you seemed so angry though just now, which makes sense-“

Hunk raised a hand to stop her, shaking his head, “It’s fine, let’s just call it a lack of communication on both our parts, and miscommunication maybe. I understand if you don’t want me to-“

“No no! Great Gran would love to meet you! I’m very honored that you’re willing to do that!”

“Oh okay I’m sorry-“

“No I’m sorry-“

Somehow, this whole encounter led to the both of them dating. After they apologized back and forth Hunk did get dressed and even handpicked a few flowers that she wanted to bring, after asking for her name. Great Gran’s grave was tidy and indeed did have the wilting flowers that used to reside in the garden, and Shay carefully cleaned them up and placed the nicely arranged bouquet Hunk had put together.

Shay was a pleasant edition to Hunk’s life, after enough visits to see Great Gran they began to date. He grew to love her blunt nature and only shook his head when she still decided to sneak flowers from his garden, only to place them in a vase by his bed with a sweet note from her. He figured it was easier and cheaper than trying to get anything from a shop. It wasn’t long before Hunk’s _Don’t mess with_ list expanded after that,

  * Don’t mess with his friends
  * Don’t mess with his cooking
  * Don’t mess with his inventions
  * Don’t mess with his garden



_Most of all-_

  * Don’t mess with his girlfriend



**Author's Note:**

> djfsajdlf the ending was REALLY RUSHED bcs i've had this sitting for a while and i've been meaning to finish and get it up ;<; either way enjoy these two rays of sunshine


End file.
